Improvement in horse collar and hames



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. B. GUERNSEY.

Collar and Hames.

Horse- No. 208,308. Patented Sept. 24, 1878.

mtness es 91?. ddm.

N-FETERS, FKOTD-QJTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. C.

' 3She ets--Sheet 2. W. B. GUERNSEY.

Horse-Collar and Hames. No. 208,308. Patented Sept. 24,1878.

Wz'bwsse s sssssss ssssss W. B. GUERNSEY. Horse-Collar and Hames. No.208,308. Patented Sept. 24,1878.

I v \\\\?I% i 5 I v 1 1 I i 5 i '1 E 5 a v i l UNITED STATES PATENTCFFICE.

WILLIAM B. GUERNSEY, OF NORWICH, NEW YORK, ASSICNOR T0 JANE M.

GUERNSEY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORS E COLLAR AND HAMES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,308, datedSeptember 24, 1878; application filed November 2, 1877.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. GUERN- SEY, of Norwich, in the county ofChenango The entire structure is adapted to be made of metal in the mostlight and cool form. Comfortable and durable pads possessing therequisite combination of firmness and elasticity, are provided, andthese are made selfadjusting to the varying angles of the shoulders ofdifferent animals and movable therewith.

Arms or bars are provided for the attachment of the traces at therequisite distance from the shoulders, and they serve also to supportthe pads, being applied so as to have a limited rotation on the hames,which are thus relieved from all torsional strain, and adapted to befastenedat both ends by simple loose joint-links. The trace-tug arms arealso pivoted so as to render them adjustable as to their angle to suithorses of different heights.

The hames are supported from the neck by a flexible connection,permitting them to rise and fall with the motion of the horse, and thelink attachments between their extremities permit the opposite forwardand backward motion of their respective ends, which occurs at everystep.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a pair ofhames with pads and attachments, a part of one of the hames being brokenaway to expose the pad-connection. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of aportion of one hame and its connected pad on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is afront view of a neck-saddle adapted for heavy work. Fig. 4 is a frontview-of a neck-saddle of modified form. Fig. 5 is a top view of thesame, omitting the hamestraps. Fig. 6 is a front view of a neck-saddleillustrating another modification. Fig. 7 is an elevation of a trace-tugarm and its appurtenances, illustrating a double swivelj oint. Fig. 8 isa vertical section of the same on the lines 8 8, S- S, Fig. 7 showing aportion of a hame in elevation. Fig. 9 is a transverse or horizontalsection of one of the shoulder-pads in the plane of one of thefastenings of its pressure or connecting bar.

A pair of wroughtiron hames, H H, are united in the form of a collar byloose-joint metallic links L L Trace or tug arms B B are attached to therespective hames by swivel. or hinge joints so as not to twist thehames, and self-adjusting shoulder-pads P P are attached to these arms.The links L L engage with books or eyes a a on the respective ends ofthe hames. The design is to have links of proper length, selected andapplied to each pair of hames in fitting them to the horse, after whichthe hames and links may be permanently interlocked by clinching orclosing the hooks; but the hooks may be left open at one or both ends;or ordinary straps or other fastenings may be employed, if preferred.

The hames H are, by preference, made of flat bars, as shownin'Figs. 1and 2; but they may be round in cross-section, as represented in Fig. 8,and the swivel-joints between the same and the rotary or swinging arms AB maybe fastened by the simple addition of collars c, or equivalentsleeves or enlargements, at the proper points. Loose sleeves S embracethe hames between the collars, and are constructed with lugsd,.perforated at right angles to the axes of the sleeves for theattachment of the arms A, in such a manner that they may be adjusted orset at different angles to suit horses of different heights.

In the preferred form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, Iemploy a pad which is to be rigid enough on the back to transmit thepressure of the bars B to the shoulder of the horse. The bars B arehinged to the hames H, and are provided with a loop, A, for attachmentof the trace or tug. The bars B B have rigid rightangled arms B Bprovided at their extreme ends with hinge-joints, which support thehames. These arms in extreme positions rest on stops J K, attached tothe hames and pad,to limit the motion and keep the pads from opening toofar toward the tugs, and to keep the whole bars from opening from thehame beyond a fixed point; oth erwise when the traces are slack the padsare liable to get in such position as will render the whole thinguseless. The hames are to be united at top and bottom by links L Leither with or without hame-straps, adjustable as to length, and givingfreedom of motion to the ends of the hames. I prefer to use a hame-strapand buckle with a link-connection, so as to obtain perfect flexibility,while the strap affords adjustability. Every step of the horse throwsforward the upper end of one of the hames and retracts the other, thelower ends being, of course, reversed. Without the links this motionwould twist and weaken the strap, while the strap without the link wouldtend to restrain the motion.

The bars B also carry loops 1) for the polestraps to be attached to;also loops at for the supporting-straps 0, attached to a neck-saddle, D,of suitable construction.

The importance of the flexible connection of neck-saddle to thecombination is as follows: Every step of the horse tends to twist thecollar and to rotate it across the neck. This is the cause of horsesnecks frequently becoming chafed and sore. In my collar the pads maylift alternately with the motion of the horse; but the neck-saddleremains all the time stationary, so that the horse is not chafed, as hewould otherwise be.

For heavy two-horse work it is preferred to use one of the styles shownin Figs. 3, 4., 5 and 6. The latter of these is simply a rigid or metallic saddle, D, which is less liable to render across the horses neckthan a pliable one.

Fig. 3 shows a pair of levers, E E, set up or hinged at e e to either apliable or rigid saddle, D, and the straps O 0 attached to the saidlevers by links F F at either side. These levers are in constant motionwhile the horse is working, turning with the step of the horse 5 but thesaddle does not move upon the skin.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a bridge, G, mounted on the saddle D, and providedwith a transverse slot, 9, to receive a lug, 2', on a plate, I, whichconnects the straps G O.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of a connecting bar, pad, and hame, hinged substantially asshown, so as to permit said hame, connecting-bar, and pad to turn oneach other on vertical axes, as set forth.

2. The combination of a connecting-bar constructed with trace or tugloop, and a pad and hame, hinged substantially as shown, and for thepurpose specified.

3. A bar for connecting a pad and hame, constructed with trace or tugloop, pole-strap loop, and neck-saddle loop, as set forth.

4. A pad and connecting-bar, hinged together, and provided with a stopor stops to limit their relative motion, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the bar and a hame, of the hinges and a stop orstops to limit the opening of said hinges, as and for the purposes setforth.

6. The combination, with a connecting-bar,

of the neck, saddle, and straps, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of pads, connectin gbars, and hames, securedtogether, the pads having universal movement, substantially as shown anddescribed.

8. The combination of pads, connecting-bars, hames, and neck-saddle, thepads and hames being hinged to the bars, so as to have but a limitedmotion thereon, the neck-saddle being connected thereto by flexibleconnections, the line of support of pole and of effort through 4 thetrace passing through the bars, and the hames being flexibly connectedat top and bottom, substantially as shown and described, and for thepurposes set forth.

9. A rigid neck-saddle coupled to the connecting-bar by flexible straps,as and for the purpose shown and described.

10. A neck-saddle constructed with a 1,110- tallic arch andsupporting-web, substantially as set forth.

11. The compound joints between the tracetug arms A, their pivotalsleeves S, and the pressure-bars B, having axes at right angles to thoseof the sleeves, and constructed and arranged substantially as described,the same serving to render the trace-tn g arms and shoulder-padsindependently adjustable as to their angle with reference to the hames.

\V. B. GUERNSEY.

\Vitnesses:

I. W. Bnowivn, (J. L. FERRY.

